Education Minister Gideon Saar said Israel’s connection to Ariel is as strong as the British tie to the Falkands - in a sharp rejoinder to the British Minister for Middle East Affairs Alistair Burt’s remark that the decision to upgrade the Ariel University of Samaria to full academic status was “another obstacle to peace.” Saar said the systematic anti-Israel incitement in the Palestinian education system is the real obstacle to peace. Ariel University is a prestigious institution of higher learning and British academic institutions cooperate with Ariel in important research projects.